Ribet wins Division IV basketball state championship

The three-point shots weren’t going in for Los Angeles Ribet in Saturday’s CIF state championship Division IV final at Golden 1 Center against Immanuel. Tyler Powell was 0 for 6 with 3:14 left in a tie game. The team was 2 for 18.

The 30-second clock was winding down. Ribet needed a spark, and Powell, a sophomore, insisted he still had confidence in his shot. So he fired up a three from the right side and it went in. It broke a 46-46 deadlock. Ribet went on an 11-0 run and finished with a 60-49 victory.

“I had faith in our guys,” first-year coach Reggie Howard, a former Long Beach State assistant, said.

Powell finished with 15 points. Point guard Snookey Wigington led Ribet with 19 points and six assists. Freshman Barrington Hargress added 10 points. Wigington’s younger brother, Tookey, is a member of Sierra Canyon’s Open Division finalist team. Asked if it puts pressure on him to win a state title, Wigington said, “Yes, it does.”

Ribet (27-3) won one game last season. Then Howard was brought in, and Ribet picked up seven new players. Howard said Ribet’s principal, Edgar Sedano, “recruited kids from all over the country.”

Powell has been the best newcomer. He came from St. Bernard, where he was a starter as a freshman. While he loves shooting threes, it was him at halftime saying, “We need to go inside.”

Ribet led at halftime 29-28. Immanuel (26-9) received 18 points from Winston Williams.

Sign up for our daily sports newsletter »